Some of the world’s most established and prosperous businesses were the brainchildren of true blue friendships.

Two close friends come together with a similar vision and drive… and boom! History is made. Is it always a good idea to go into business with a pal, maybe not? But we at Turnkey Office Space are optimistic people, and have churned out a list of some of the country’s best and brightest duos-turned-high-flying-entrepreneurs.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. The two both grew up in Long Island and were best friends from middle school. They idea of an ice cream business was conceived during gym class. After college and a series of random jobs, the two decided to take their adolescent dreams by the reigns and open up shop. In 1978, they took an ice cream making course by mail, put down a $12,000 deposit on a renovated gas station in Burlington, VT, and opened up ‘Ben & Jerry’s Home Made’. Who would’ve predicted that churning milk by hand could eventually lead to entrepreneurial stardom?

Evan Williams and Biz Stone of Twitter. Stone grew up in the middle-class suburbs of Wellesley, Massachusetts. He dropped out of college twice, then started a popular blog which eventually landed him a job at Google. It was there that he met future Twitter co-founder, Evan Williams. Williams comes from similar roots, specifically Clarks, Nebraska a tiny farm town. He also dropped out of college, taught himself how to code and took a development job in Silicon Valley. Along with Jack Dorsey, the three conjured up the fastest marketing and social tool the global interwebs have ever seen: Twitter.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple. The tried and true tale of two friends running the world, we know it’s an obvious one but had to include it our list. Wozniak and Jobs first met while Wozniak was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley and Jobs was in high school. The two bonded over their mutual fascination for “electronics and pranks”. Wozniak was the designer and engineer, devising the hardware, circuit board and operating system for Apple I. Jobs was the marketing and development wizard, brainstorming the business vision and pioneering the brand. Although the two made a spectacular team, in the end, they didn’t remain close.

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